Assassin’s Creed Syndicate Quick Review

Summary: Introducing Jacob Frye, who with the help of his twin sister Evie, will change the fate of millions in Assassin's Creed Syndicate. Rise to rally and lead the underworld to break the corrupt stranglehold on London in a visceral adventure filled with action, intrigue, and brutal combat.

The Good

Beautiful

Wonderful free flow combat

Amazing stealth system

Interesting characters

The Bad

Repetitive at times

Not enough enemy variation

Story seems lacking in some places

Bottom Line

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is an open world action game, in which you assume the roles of twin assassins Jacob and Evie Frye. It takes place in Victorian era London where the rival templars have taken over.

As a member of #Ubistars, I received a complimentary copy of Assassin’s Creed Syndicate for review purposes. Regardless, all opinions are my own and are awesome.

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is easily my favorite game in the series due to it being, in my opinion, a massive step in the right direction for future Assassin’s Creed games. Let’s first talk about the two main characters, Jacob and Evie Frye. They are twin assassins who constantly compete with each other over who is better. Now, they may be twins but they are not at all alike. Evie is a cautious, stealthy, and overall thoughtful person. Where her brother Jacob is very straightforward, more focused on combat, and is more of a business man.

Combat

The combat hasn’t changed too much from previous games of the series but, that being said, it has changed a few things, such as the level system; enemies now have a set level and, depending on their level, can cause you problems in hand-to-hand combat. There are three different weapon types you can use: the sword cane, kukri, and brass knuckles. Each one has its own special stat types that help you in battle. As for the actual combat, it’s very much like the other games with your attack, counter, stun, and item options. The difference this time around is you cannot chain kills or counter kill someone. Instead, you focus on getting their health low enough to kill them, and there are perks that allow you to do this faster.

Stealth

The stealth system was probably my favorite part of the game. It was really well done and impressive. The detection system worked really well, and if I got caught, it was because I had messed up while sneaking. You can hide behind different things to conceal yourself from the enemy, or you can stand up and try hiding among the crowd.

Items & Equipement

The items were also a great addition to the game. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate sees the return of the classic throwing knife and smoke bomb, as well as plenty of new items, such as the grappling hook and the revolver.

The customization and equipment options in Syndicate are on-point. You have the option to equip a variety of weapons, armor, outfits, and colors. You can also upgrade your in-game gang, The Rooks. This gang will help you throughout the game to take back London. The gang upgrades include sabotaging the enemy, and gaining more money, among other boons.

Minor Gripes

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate does have a few slight issues. Missions can sometimes be repetitive. Killing Templar targets, capturing villains for the police, and freeing child laborers over and over again can get a bit stale. It doesn’t help matters that the enemies in game all have the exact same look. I could understand this if the enemies wore armor, but each class just has the exact same character model. It bugs me when I am fighting a group of enemies and I see three of the same person attacking me.

The story, although pretty great, sometimes feels a little off. It sometimes gets annoying when the twins know there is a major threat out there, but they are wasting time arguing with each other, or are constantly trying to one-up each other when they should be working together to help London. I also felt like the romantic side story between Evie and another character was pretty distracting.

Final Thoughts

All in all, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is a really great game that just cut a few corners here and there, which I am more than willing to overlook, given the end result. I give it five out of five stars.